I recently reread Caroline Alexander's "The Bounty" (one of the best accounty of the infamous mutiny), which led me to read "Endurance". For those who are unfamiliar with the event, in 1914 Ernest Shackleton set out to cross Antarctica. He never even made it to shore, as his ship became trapped in ice a short distance from shore, and drifted with the pack for the better part of a year, before the ship was finally crushed. Twenty eight men (and dozens of dogs) were forced to drag the ships boats along the ice and "camp out". Eventually they drifted with the ice to the north, and as it broke up, the men took to the boats and made their way to nearby Elephant Island. From there, six of the men set out in a 22 foot boat in an attempt to reach a whaling station 800 miles away. Their voyage ranks up with Bligh's trip to Timor as one of the greatest open boat voyages in recorded history (I'm sure the prehistoric Polynesians who first settled Hawaii, Easter Island, etc, had some pretty good tales to tell).

One of the best aspects of the book is Frank Hurley's photgraphs, especially those depicting the Endurance in the ice, its masts rising starkly from the surreal landscape. There were also some charming photos of the sled dogs, including a small little of adorable pups. Alas, early on, it was apparent that things would go badly for the poor dogs.

Man, that sounds really interesting Chuck. Thanks for mentioning it.

hmm, thanks for posting. I just might check this out!

http://www.shackleton-endurance.com shows a good sampling of the Hurley photos (they offer prints and posters of 'em for sale). Two things to note:

There is a "spoiler" on the first page (concerning the fate of the men). If you cover up the right side of your monitor and click on "Endurance Images" at the upper left, you can avoid the spoilers.

These images do NOT do justice to Hurley's photographs, as they are low-resolution versions intended to prevent people from snagging the pictures for free.


I've read quite a few books about Bligh and the Bounty, Captain Cook's epic voyages, etc., and the things seafarers of this era routinely put themselves through are incredible.

There was a good documentary about Shackleton's voyage on either PBS or History. Sorry, but I don't remember which.

Cher

This is a great book. Ive read it a couple of times...Shackleton is a jaw-dropping example of leadership and perseverence. Its an almost superhuman tradgedy and, in fact, acheivemant as well. If he thought jumping in a glorified rowboat held together with duct tape and supplied with 3 cans of cheese whiz would perhaps save his mens lives... he hesitated about 3 seconds to make sure he was going the right way.... and then just did it. Then did it again.

If you like a good nautical yarn... look up 'Stove by a Whale' too.... its almost equally as rivering as shackletons story...

Thanks, I'll check it out.

(It's about the Essex, which had an encounter that helped inspire Melville to write Moby Dick.)

While looking for this at the library, I stumbled upon a different book about the Essex and checked it out. It turns out it's about an entirely different 19th century ship, a U.S. Navy firgate that sailed the Pacific during the War of 1812 in search of British whalers. Oddly enough, it also helped inspire a Melville tale (Typee).